Consequence
by Jaericho
Summary: As the old saying goes… the grass isn't always greener on the other side. It all gets muddy and shitty in the rain…. [Self Insert/SI] [GenmaxOC] [hiatus]
1. Introduction: Intros are Ugh

**Author's Note- **I do not own Naruto. That right goes to Masashi Kishimoto although I wish I owned Genma.

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con·se·quence

/känsikwəns/

_noun_

a result or effect of an action or condition.

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From a young age, I could tell I was different.

I could remember things that didn't _belong._ They just didn't **fit**.

I remember clearly that once upon a time (I say that because I'm not sure how long ago it was), I had a different name and I didn't live in a world populated by shinobi. I lived in a world where shinobi did exist once upon a time but they did not spit fire, having glowing eyes and certainly didn't have chakra.

Come to think of it, the shinobi of my past life were certainly bland in comparison to the world I lived in now, obviously. Sure, there were planes, cars, and fun things such as amusement parks (in my old life) but was I really missing anything by trading worlds?

No, not really.

I was trading in an a plain pair of shoes for ones with a little more **flair**. Well, who am I kidding, a **LOT **of flair. I was upgrading from mary janes to shoes that lit up when I walked with bright colors and kick ass gemstones.

That was cool right?

I didn't care about the people I left behind, or more so, the person. I could live a new life with no issues…. or so I thought.

I'm a bit materialistic, narcissistic and selfish, can you tell?

But so what, I'm human.

In the end, I can't say that I'll miss my old life but I can't say that I won't enjoy my new one either.

It's nice having a fresh start in a new place.

But as the old saying goes… the grass isn't always greener on the otherside. It all gets muddy and shitty in the rain….

My name is Emiko Hatake, formerly Miranda, and I'm going to show you how those flashy new shoes I upgraded to aren't all that they seem to be.

**_/x/_**

On September 15th at the height of the Second Shinobi War, Sukumo Hatake and his wife Kiyoko were blessed with not one bundle as they were expecting but two.

Kakashi, being the arrogant ass hat (I totally mean loving brother) that he is, was born first and I followed soon after (and by soon, I mean an hour). I couldn't recall the exact details of that day being that everyone was was nothing but fuzzy shapes and muffled noises but it seemed to be a peaceful birth. No one was screaming too much or anything.

Being in the body of a newborn, I couldn't function as well as I could in my previous twenty-four year old body. I was essentially in spectator mode (imagine watching the replay of a game) while I was fed, changed and put to sleep on a daily basis.

I didn't mind.

Really. I didn't.

I _loved_ sleeping in my previous life but being an adult usually meant that I spent almost all my time working or doing something productive with my life.

..._Okay._ I may have fibbed a bit. I spent a lot of time reading fan fictions, watching Naruto and playing video games. What do you want from me?

Back to the main focus. I pretty much enjoyed being cuddled, it was nice feeling someone genuinely love and care for me and the love that radiated from their body, I assumed it was my mother, felt warm. It was a feeling I hadn't felt in such a long time since I had lost my mother in my previous life, something I remember desperately wanting no matter how old I got.

What I didn't know is that in some aspects, I would be mirroring my previous life. Even though Kiyoko was only in my life for a period of a few months (and wasn't my real mother for that matter), it didn't hurt any less when I felt the absence of her warmth. Without her around, all I could feel was mechanical emotions, the "_I'm only doing this because I'm required"_ type of feeling from the staff. Every once in a while I would get a small bit of attention from some of the nurses but I eventually came to learn that it wasn't the same. It was nothing in comparison to the pure love that my _mother_ radiated from her body, so I did the only thing I could think of and could actually control. **I cried**.

I cried until I felt a shift as someone picked me up from my bassinet and placed me in another next to a small form that I could easily figure out. Kakashi Hatake.

It was strange to imagine the perverted shinobi as anything other than twenty something year old copy ninja who preferred to read Icha Icha whenever possible with his rather stoic demeanor. Yet, here he was with chubby rosy cheeks and a mop of spiky silver locks.

Nevertheless, I continued to wail inspite of being placed next to the chubby silver haired baby until I felt a soft tap to my forehead. I blinked, another thing I just found out I could control, staring at the small Hatake who looked irritated by my presence since I was interrupting his naptime. I shouldn't have been surprised that a prodigy like him could control his own limbs at a couple months old and pulled off the annoyed look easily, though it was super adorable.

I would later find out that that was all I was going to get from Kakashi. To him, a slap on the head meant a hug and who was I to force him otherwise. Well... I was his sister for one and that wasn't going to fly but that would have to be dealt with later.

After being in the hospital for about half a year, Sakumo would return to Konoha from being on the battlefront for six months. I couldn't tell you how he took the death of his wife, my _mother_, then because I was so young and he did so well at hiding it from us but I had a feeling he knew that it was coming before we were born.

She had been sick for a long time Kiyoko being the strong woman she was, had actually lived past her life expectancy. She knew that pregnancy would push her body to it's limits but wanted nothing more than to be a mother but most of all, a mother to Sakumo's children. So when he received news of her passing, he grieved momentarily before carrying on with the realization that he hadn't truly lost Kiyoko. Though death took his wife from him, life blessed him with two gifts to make up for it. The silver haired and dark eyed Kakashi and his silver haired indigo eyed twin, myself. Emiko.

That day it became clear to him that death was at a lose. It was 2 to 1.

**_/x/_**

"How much longer do I have to sit here and listen to them drone on," I bemoaned sitting in my desk tapping my small fingers idly. "If I had known they were going to take their sweet as time droning on about protocol, I would have taken a page from the Nara handbook and slept."

"Emiko-chan," Genma chewed idly on the toothpick in his mouth keeping his voice at a whisper, "We're genin now, don't you think that all your whining is for Academy students?"

"We just graduated from Academy like two seconds ago, Genma," I hissed back with a twitch of my brow. "Stop trying to act all superior and I told you," I inhaled deeply to calm my hot headed temper, "Stop with the honorific. I get it. You're older."

"Emiko." The hairs on my neck stood on end as my face flushed as red as a cherry tomato and I slid down into my seat.

"Gomen, sensei."

I didn't even have to turn my head to see the smug look that overtook the boy's features, the boy that had grown to be the bane of my existence. It was one thing to live in the shadow of Kakashi, always questioned on why I wasn't as skilled or as smart as the prodigy but another to deal with this asshole. I couldn't risk being a prodigy because I had read enough fan fictions in my last life to see what a Mary Sue; It wasn't something I wanted to become.

Sure, every original character had their bouts of being Mary Sueish, it was natural, we were all human but I didn't want to go full on. To keep myself from being blessed with that title, I held myself back for two reasons. The first being that I didn't want to be singled out, we were, after all, in the midst of the second shinobi war but also secondly, I was fucking scared. I freaked out when we were learning our elemental affinity, mine being lightning to nobody's surprise, but I could barely dodge projectiles being thrown at me. I have the marks to prove it.

So in a way, it wasn't that I could graduate early to begin with. In fact, if someone DID graduate me earlier, I'm sure the Hokage would be questioning their intelligence since I had earned a personal title from Genma himself, _Konoha's Incompetent Fang_. Get it? It's similar to Konoha's White Fang. Isn't he so fucking _**pleasant**._

"Bastard," I muttered under my breath jamming my heel into his foot only to narrowly miss and slam it into hardwood floor.

Goddamnit that hurts.

"At least I won't have to see your stupid face anymore."

Or so I thought.

"Team Six goes as follows: Shiranui Genma, Maito Gai and Hatake Emiko."

So much for this not going the way of a typical fan fiction.

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**Author's Note: **First of all if you've made it this far, thanks for reading! This is my first fan fiction and I've been a bit scared to post it but I figured why not give it a shot. Genma is one of my favorite characters and I haven't seen a lot of love for him so I decided to go for it since the plot bunnies wouldn't stop until I did.

This story may be a little odd and I'll be quite honest, my grammar sucks. So if any of you happen to know a beta that would guide me, I'd appreciate it. I absolutely love constructive criticism and I don't have many friends that are in to Naruto let alone those who read Naruto fan fictions.

I'll try to update whenever possible because I do want to go somewhere with the story. See ya next update!


	2. Chapter I: The Devil Wears a Jōnin Vest

Nope. Still don't own Naruto.

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_**Chapter I: **__The Devil Wears a Jōnin Vest_

I was arrogant; I couldn't lie. I was so self absorbed that I thought that just because I was reborn into this new life, that I wouldn't make a splash. I was foolish to think that even if I slid in slowly and at an even pace the waters of the Narutoverse would be forgiving; That I wouldn't make an impact. I was wrong, like, _super_ wrong.

When sensei announced that I would be replacing Ebisu on what would eventually become Team Genma, _hopefully _become Team Genma, all my plans of sliding into the background and doing my own thing fell apart; Though I like to think of it as shattering into tiny pieces. If I wanted to make sure everything stayed canon as much as possible, I was going to have to stay still… be very vanilla.

Ah, who the fuck am I kidding, I can't do that. I wasn't even a boring person in my past life and my acting skills were terrible plus I was forgetting one thing.

Being vanilla in a world like this would get me **killed**.

Being vanilla meant that I would be mediocre at everything. Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Fuinjutsu, Taijutsu… EVERYTHING.

Not happening.

I refuse to die again.

Maybe I should ju—

"Odango atama," Genma teased making fun of the buns that sat atop my head successfully bringing out of my thoughts.

How was it possible that a ten year old could piss me off so easily? I mean, I know I have a terrible temper but jeez. My body twitched rubbing as I rubbed my side where the too cool for school toothpick chewing bastard elbowed and shot a him a heated glare. "Don't you have somewhere to be? Some asshat convention to give a speech at?"

Genma rolled his eyes ignoring every word that came out of my mouth, which only irritated me further, and lifted a brow. "Two things," the brown haired nuisance raised his index and middle finger with a grin, "First, You daydream too much, I'm just trying to keep you focused which in turn keeps you alive since we're good friends—"

"We're not friends." I corrected.

"Best friends, I might even say," he continued despite my interruption. "Second— we're being watched," he pointed to the corner of the room.

"Nani!?" My eyes shrank in size as I slowly turned the corner of the room feeling a familiar drop in my stomach and a cold chill run up my spine. I know that I'm terrible at sensing chakra, that much was obvious, but how could I not notice that familiar nagging at being watched? I'm going to have to add that to the list of things I need to work on.

"MY BELOVED COMRADES!"

Of all things holy. Gai was this exuberant at seven years old? Hashirama, God of Shinobi, please have mercy on my poor confused self inserted soul.

Before I, or Genma for that matter, could dart from our seats, Gai had one arm thrown over each of our shoulders and held us at a tight embrace. "You are—! And you—!" The caterpillar eyebrowed genin tapped his chin with his finger tightening his hold on Genma. "What are your names?"

THUNK!

I fell out of my seat.

No, seriously, I did.

"You idiot." I sighed heavily with my hand over my face glaring at the frilly haired shinobi through my fingers. As much as I wanted to headbutt the kid, there was no violence allowed— at least not in the classroom itself. Besides the fact, that was just how Maito Gai was, something I was grateful that I knew beforehand. I just held a smidgen of hope that his boisterous personality would be something he would grow into later. Which come to think of it, sounded stupid. It's hard imagining Maito Gai being as shy as Hinata at a young age and a bit disturbing. "I hope we're not a subterfuge squad because you would forget our objective and give us away."

"Or a body guard team because your hot headedness would probably result in the failure of the objective." Genma unwrapped himself from the young Green Beast of Konoha's grip with a sly grin removed the toothpick from his mouth. "I'm Shiranui Genma and silver haired spitfire is Hatake Emiko," he pointed the soggy end in my direction, "and I assume that he—" he stuck his toothpick back in his mouth and used his thumb to point behind him, "is our sensei."

Once again, I found myself cursing that I wasn't a sensor type, not like I'd be able to detect a jōnin who didn't want to be noticed anyhow. Standing up to my full height, which was relatively short in comparison to the two boys on my team, we all gave our attention to the dark hard man observing our actions. With a wry grin, the jōnin clasped his hands together and pushed himself from the wall using his elbow.

"So," the grin never reached his eyes which left me a little creeped out, "It only took you all three minutes and forty-seven seconds to notice me." He let out a light chuckle which only amplified how creeped out I was, "Which is only twenty seconds shorter than the last group of genin I sent back to Academy."

The three of us gathered together in collective gasps as I grabbed ahold of the nearest arm that I could. "Back to the Academy? Like, failed them back to the Academy?"

"Yup," the older shinobi chirped, this time his grin spread from ear to ear, "Out of the forty five genin that passed today, only fifteen will successfully become genin. We jōnin like to call it the rule of sixty six. Can you guess why?" He asked gleefully.

"Because only—"

"Because sixty six percent of the genin get booted back to Academy or drop out!" He blurted out laughing deafeningly wiping a tear from his eye as though he had told the best joke known to mankind.

Okay. I totally don't recognize this guy from canon. Who the hell was he and why was he so creepy and cheerful? It was like he was made of nightmares and adorable unicorn rainbows. I'm sure that he eats kitten for breakfast while laughing and happily humming a tune. I didn't get him.

"My name is Mitokado Haru and I'll be your jōnin sensei **IF** and only **IF** you pass my test." The dark haired shinobi pushed his glasses up from the bridge of his nose continuing to sport his toothy grin. "If you pass my test, I will train you to become the greatest shinobi that exist. I will **break** you," he held up his hand tightly fisted, "then mold you into the best that Konoha has to offer."

Pain. Until I became a jōnin myself, which was if I even got to be that high ranking and even then I was sure it would be another decade, I was going to be in hell under this jōnin's tutelage. I was going to hurt in places I didn't know existed. I was going to cry until my tears turned to dust. I was going to hate my life. While I was caught in my thoughts of how much I was going to hate my life, I forgot I was squeezing the life out of someone's arm.

"Do not fear, Emiko-chan," Gai flashed his signature toothy grin a familiar ping echoed throughout the room and I was a bit taken aback that he wasn't blowing out my eardrums. Maybe he hadn't completely turned full on Maito Gai just yet. "THE POWER OF OUR YOUTH WILL PERSEVERE THROUGH THE PAIN!"

I was wrong.

At this point in time, I'm sure that Gai had come out of the womb with that personality. He was born with it and there was no such thing as him just growing in to it. Nope. For generations to come, whether through his own bloodline or by pseudo bloodline, that personality would be passed around like a torch. I could only pray for any children that I would possibly bear later in life as I let go of his arm and stood up straight.

"I want you three at training ground five at dawn. Pack like you're going to war, genin because I assure you, playtime is over."

_**/x/**_

"You think that they give psyche evaluations before allowing certain people to train genin?"

I was sure they didn't. That would ruin the fun of subjecting young children to mental scarring.

"Who's your jōnin sensei, Emiko?"

Sakumo smiled softly as he ruffled the top of my head effectively messing up my hair and sat down on the other side of the table and dug into his meal.

"Mitokado Haru."

Sakumo spit out his rice and stared wide eyed. "What?"

"Mi-to-ka-do Ha-ru," I reiterated slowly though I knew perfectly well he caught what I said. Hell, he probably even knew the psycho.

"They let _him_ become a jōnin sensei?" Sakumo coughed and let out a chuckle.

"What do you mean by _him_? Is he crazy? I mean, I think he's crazy. He said he was going to break us and I'm still not sure if he meant mentally or physically or even both."

"Maybe he'll break that temper of yours." Kakashi added easily continuing to eat his meal as though Sakumo hadn't spit out half of his.

"Shove it, Kakashi," I spat narrowing my eyes.

"Exactly my point," the seven year old future copy-nin didn't even spare me a glance as he took a sip from his tea, "You always let your emotions cloud your better judgement. It'll get you and your teammates killed."

My mouth was agape. Yeah. I knew Kakashi was an asshole but I forgot that sometimes he was just pretty bold about it. Closing my mouth, I crossed my arms over my chest and clenched my jaw shut staring at the ground.

I tried not to be upset but hell, I was mad. I was pissed but not necessarily about his comment. I was angry because he was right.

My hair trigger temper was something I had carried with me for as long as I remembered. I had dragged it from my previous life into this one not bothering to change myself as I moved into another life. All my temper would have done in my past life was got me into a few scuffles and gained me a few enemies. In this life, the Narutoverse, if I didn't watch my mouth or at least have the strength to back it— I'd die.

"You're still young, Emiko" Sakumo set his hand on my shoulder as an act of comfort with a wry smile. "Harbor your emotions into your hard work and let it help you build your strength."

I continued to keep my lips pursed, still irritated about Kakashi's words, but nodded my head firmly. I may not ever get as strong as Kakashi or Sakumo and infamous enough to earn my own title but I would at least become strong enough to hold my own.

"Now," Sakumo's smile widened as he ruffled the tops of both of our heads, "I have gifts for my two genin. Your mother and I have been harboring these for a while."

The pitter patter of feet hitting the wooden floor echoed throughout the small home as the jōnin disappeared into a guest room and returned boxes varying in different shapes and sizes. "I know that you graduated two years ago and were promoted last year, Kakashi but it was only fair to wait for Emiko."

Unstacking the three boxes, Sakumo set one in front of Kakashi and two in front of myself. Kakashi was the first to unwrap his present with his dark eyes going wide as he stared at the White Light Chakra Sabre that laid in the box.

"Otou-san. The war is still going on, you can't jus—"

"Maa, Kakashi," Sakumo ruffled his hair, "I'll retire from the battlefield soon. It's only right that I pass it to the next head of the Hatake clan. I rather hand it over to you now than have it lost if I were to…"

"Arigotō, otou-san."

"And you, Emiko, open yours."

I had gotten so caught up in the family moment that I forgot about the two boxes lying in front of me. Using the sleeve of my shirt to wipe away any tears that threatened to fall, I gave a quick nod and set to unwrap the presents before me. The first box was small wrapped with silver wrapping paper and tied off with a ruby bow. When I unwrapped it, I found myself staring at a set of ebony jeweled hair sticks that were encrusted with silver and indigo gems.

"Were these?" My eyes widened as I stared up at Sakumo who simply nodded.

"Kiyoko had been saving those. She had had them since she was a genin."

I couldn't hold it back any longer. My nose began to burn as I felt the warm tears slide down my face and I began to hiccup. I didn't care that the Narutoverse was something that wasn't real in my old life. It was real now. It all was.

I couldn't stop myself. Before I knew it, my blouse was soaked in tears, my face was red and my nose was beginning to get runny. Between thinking about losing my mother in my past life and losing my mother in this life, I was a blubbering mess. Kakashi, the ever affectionate brother he was, immediately grew tired of how I kept hiccuping and crying so he stood from his seat and in one swift motion, smacked my forehead.

"Kakashiiii!" I whined in between hiccups as Sakumo sighed rubbing his face.

"Your face is turning red and you're getting tears all over your present." Kakashi frowned as he sat back down.

"Normal people give their crying siblings a hug! They don't smack their foreheads!" I huffed rubbing my forehead with one hand and using the sleeve of my shirt to wipe my face.

"Hn."

I puffed up my cheeks unwrapping my second present that was neatly wrapped with blue wrapping paper and a purple ribbon. "Otou-san.. this is for me?"

"Hai."

I was really going to have to get over the fact that this world was completely different from my previous life. In the old world, giving tantōs and katanas to seven year olds would have got you a call from child services. In this world, it was completely normal. Give a child a sharp object that could possibly maim them or someone else? No problem. They'll be alright. Grows character!

"You've made your old man proud, my little genin and chūnin."

"Arigotō, Otou-san." Kakashi and I echoed in unison as I picked up my katana that was sheathed gently. It was going to be so fun learning to use this thing.

_**/x/**_

"Oh my little genin!"

It was way too damn early for someone to be this cheerful, like way too early. The birds were chirping off in the distance happy that the sun was rising and I was cursing the existence of said sun. I barely had enough time to eat since I barely got up on time and I could hardly keep my eyes open.

"Hostage situation. I'm giving you until the sun is directly in the sky to save your comrade which will played by..." Haru-sensei grinned widely as he grabbed ahold of Gai by his collar tugging the genin to his side.

"That's it? Just get Gai back?" I blinked with a perked brow.

"Yup."

"And we have seven hours." I asked again.

"Yup yup."

"What's the catch?" Genma set his hands behind head staring lazily at the jōnin in front of us.

Mitokado Haru's usual toothy grin fell from his face as his dark eyes bore into the depths of my soul. "You have to go through me." It was hard trying to figure out the handseals that he was going through and by the time the realization set in on what he was doing, it was too late. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

"FUCK!"

I couldn't react. My feet froze in place as I felt myself being lifted from the ground and was flying through the trees. I locked up, which was normal, I was scared and a jōnin just tried to burn me to a crisp. That's fine. What wasn't fine was the fact that when I came to my senses, I realized I was gripping onto the black jacket of my own rival. One things for sure, after this was over, I was never going to want to play hostage again.

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**Author's Note **\- So. I didn't think people would actually like the story so that came as a bit of a surprise. It made me happy so I went ahead and updated a week ahead of time. In the future I plan to try to update **TWICE **a month but we'll see how that goes with work and all. Thank you to shadow-binder, saku hyuuga, DulcetOwl and blackpearrlgurl for the reviews. They really meant a lot so I hope that you lot continue to enjoy the story and I'll do my best to make things longer. It's so much harder to get back into the swing of this than I thought. I'd also like to thank all those who added the story to their favorites, alerts and communities!

I'm still looking for a beta because my grammar skills are ridiculously rusty so if you know anyone or see any errors, let me know! I'm always up for constructive critique!

The next chapter will bring more Emiko and Genma time to the forefront because... well... the lovely game of hostage. I look forward to writing and and hope to see you all R&amp;R!


	3. Chapter II: Mitokado means PAIN!

I Do NOT own Naruto

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_**Chapter II: **__Mitokado means Pain!_

My sensei was certifiably insane.

No, _seriously_, the dude was straight up fucking nuts.

Who in the world decides to send a full on giant fireball out at two unsuspecting genin?

Oh, Mitokado Haru.

Not like a giant fireball isn't harmful or anything.

Charred genin make great warriors and all.

Silver strands of hair whipped around my face as I tucked them behind my ear bringing myself out of my thoughts and stared up at my _hero_. Genma, though I liked to associate him with being an asshole, because he usually was, had essentially saved me from becoming genin bbq.

**A Mitokado special coming to a menu near you soon!**

No matter how I tried to hash it up in my head, I owed the kid.

_Sure_, I wouldn't have really died, just burned within an inch of my life, he still saved me. This simply meant that I had a lot to work on if I wanted to go anywhere in life and pointed even more so to the fact that I passed the genin exam by the skin of my teeth.

My gaze narrowed as I stared up at the senbon hanging from his mouth, he had started using them after he got his hitai-ate, and the calm disposition he held. Genma was a natural born leader and whether I liked it or not, I needed to start paying attention if I wanted to make it in this world.

"You're getting all starry eyed on me Odango atama," Genma teased as he stopped on a branch balancing himself. "Ready to admit we're best friends forever?"

"No," I snorted as he dropped me from his arms and I caught myself. I let out a sigh and crossed my arms, "But I will _reluctantly_ thank you for saving me from third degree burns and Mitokado-sensei adding me to the menu."

"Come again?"

"I was making a joke since he was trying to turn us into Akimichi fire grilled style BBQ," I grinned sheepishly and set my hands behind my head.

"You're sense of humor is weird." Genma shook his head and bent his knees setting his forearms on his thighs. "So, we've learned that a full frontal assault would result in BBQ, as you put it, that leaves us with a few options so pay attention."

My mouth opened to give a retort but immediately shut as his brown eyes hardened daring me to refute. I'll have to remember to give him hell about it later. "Right," I murmured leaning forward only to be interrupted by another blaze ripping through the trees turning the branches and leaves into a charred mess.

I was able to react accordingly this time, though barely, and jumped to another branch with Genma at my side. Mitokado-sensei sat on branch across from us with a feral grin and a sickle attached to a chain.

"On the battlefield you don't get the luxury of standing around to make plans!" He spun the weighted chain around his head before flinging it at the branch where both of us resided momentarily. "Think on your toes!"

The branch snapped under the weight of the chain sending us both into the air.

"Don't attack head on! Wait for me to come find you!" Genma pulled three shuriken from his weapon pack and threw them at the shadow clone. "Go!"

My legs began to move as though they had a mind of their own as I pivoted and jumped from another branch only for it to shatter beneath my footing crushed by the chain wrapped around it again. My hands reached out for another branch but missed it by a few inches sending me on my fast descent to the ground.

This was it.

I was going to die in a heap of broken bones.

Would they carve my name into the memorial stone if I plummeted to my death inside Konoha and not on the battlefield?

Hell, this felt like a battlefield if I'm going to be honest. Though the real question here was, why hadn't I hit the ground yet?

"We've really got to stop meeting like _this_," Genma grinned lying on his back and staring up at the sky. "You're starting to become dependent on me." He teased.

"You know," I began, "If you were actually silent, you'd make a halfway decent pillow." I teased with my arms crossed over my chest. Here we were, barely an hour into our test and Genma had saved my ass twice. **TWICE**. There was no way he was going to let me live this down. I'll have to thank him later and figure out how he managed to be so fast at the age of ten.

"As much as I enjoy being your furniture, Emiko," Genma rolled over as my butt fell onto the cold wet grass. "We've got a teammate to save and Mitokado-sensei isn't going to be distracted by a simple smoke bomb for long."

Right away I knew it was time to get serious since Genma was referring to me as my birth name and not by dumpling head. "So what's the plan?"

"Simple." Genma grinned pulling a scroll his pack, "First, you admit we're best friends."

My nostril twitched, a telltale sign of my irritation on how he could go from being serious to an ass, as I grabbed the brunette shinobi by his jacket. "Look, how about we decide who's friends with who and who hates who after all this crap. I've been nearly burned to a crisp, fell to my death and have to not only worry about a insane sensei but you trying to get me to admit we're friends. I just want to pass and go home. Can you hold it together long enough for that? Hm?"

"Sure."

"You promise?"

"Yup." He emphasized on the p.

My eyes narrowed into indigo slits momentarily as I thought over my outburst and I suddenly found myself thinking of what Kakashi said the previous night.

_You always let your emotions cloud your better judgement. It'll get you and your teammates killed. _

The grip I had on Genma's jacket loosened as I took a step back, a frown etched into my features.

He was right.

He was _always_ right.

This was not Earth and I was not in a world where holding your heart out on your sleeve didn't bear consequences. This was Konohagakure, a _shinobi_ village where holding your heart out left it open to be stabbed. I straightened my back and set my hands down by my side and did my best to relax my shoulders.

It was never too late to start, right?

"So what's your plan, leader?"

"Well my little kōhai," Genma teased. "Listen carefully."

_**/x/ Third Person P.O.V**_

Mitokado Haru was a war seasoned veteran to reckon with. At the age of twenty eight, he had a high enough kill count to populate a medium size village between his years on the front lines and ANBU. He was the son of the Sandaime Hokage's personal council member, Mitokado Homura, and took a lot of pride in dwindling clan. He was arrogant, self serving and twisted, all things he couldn't deny and wholeheartedly agreed with.

So when he was **forcefully** retired from ANBU by his own father two years ago, anger couldn't begin to describe how he felt. When he was handed the files of genin, he made sure to fail them all just to spite the man. He did not become a shinobi to learn to teach little brats how to throw kunai, senbon and shuriken. He did not slit throats in the dark of the night and viciously decapitate his enemies only to return to a village to teach children his sinful line of work. With his arms crossed over his chest firmly, he spat out the saliva that had collected in his mouth as though it would rid him of the bad taste in his mouth.

He had tried to use every excuse in the book to deter him from his _assignment _and even stooped as low to let a Yamanaka perform a mental test on him when he pleaded insanity. He belonged out there in the midst of battle not in the walls of the village.

Inoichi, that damn Yamanaka prodigy at T&amp;I, immediately saw through his ruse and cleared him. Teaching the next generation will be good for you, he said, it'll lower your stress levels, they said. _Bullshit, it was all bullshit_. He cursed himself inwardly. After failing two genin groups, they sent him a third one and this time his father sent a personal warning about failing them. So of course this time they stuck him with the most ragtag group of genin.

Maito Gai was a below average pass by the luck of the draw genin. The bushy browed boy had failed the Academy exam once and barely succeeded in passing the second go round. He was the son of an eternal genin, Maito Dai, and as far as Haru knew, the boy was slated to follow the same path. Without giving him a second thought, he wrote the boy off.

Shiranui Genma had graduated above average in his class. The kid was smart and a natural born leader but he lacked the seriousness required to be a shinobi. He was an orphan, left by parents who fought in the war, and showed the most promise out of the three of the team. If he could get the boy to be serious, he could see him going far but for the time being, he deserved a write off too.

Stifling a yawn, his body shook momentarily, the feeling of having a shadow clone return, and he grinned. "Crafty little brats."

The last of his group was the only girl, Hatake Emiko. Her father was Konoha's White Fang, a jōnin whom he had worked with on the front plenty of times. He would have preferred to take on her brother, Kakashi, who was a prodigy but the Hokage already set up a mentor for the boy. Nevertheless, the little silver haired brat was mediocre like the rest of her team. Her genjutsu skills barely passed the genin exam and her taijutsu was average. Haru shoved his hands into his pockets as he frowned with a tinge of pity for the girl.

Hatake Sakumo was a fine shinobi and the only one that Haru felt he matched on the battlefield. A man who loved Konoha like his own children and carried the will of fire like the other shinobi. Unfortunately his fire was snuffed out by failure. Konohagakure had sent a treaty to Iwagakure in the hopes of stopping the war only to rush into an ambush by Kumogakure. Sakumo had made an honorable decision in choosing to save the life of his comrades but there was no place for honor in war.

The man was shamed in the shinobi world and could barely show his face in public without scrutinizing looks. The man who once held such great prestige had fallen from grace and it was a wonder how his children held up… or more so child. The oldest son, Kakashi, had gone as far as hiding his face and throwing himself at any mission he could to stay disassociated with the man and the youngest…

He chuckled to himself feeling sure that she didn't have the slightest clue. She was hot headed and always arguing with her oldest teammate, Genma. The girl was oblivious to the world around her and her temper flared at anyone who decided to light the fuse.

They were all written off in his mind. Just like the rest, Mitokado Haru would not pass any of them regardless of the empty threats against him.

The war seasoned shinobi scoffed as his dark eyes drifted to the dark haired genin that he was keeping _hostage_ that had stepped to the side in an attempt to escape. Without missing a beat, he had pulled his sickle from his side and held it at the seven year old's neck as his features twisted into a dark grin.

"I wouldn't move if you want to keep your head Gai-_kun_," he cooed as the grin dropped from his face and his eyes drifted to the sky above.

They only had half an hour until their time was up and he would send them all packing to the genin corps.

He couldn't wait to see the look on his father's face.

_**/x/ Emiko**_

I was going to feel this in the morning.

No, screw that, I was going to feel this for the rest of my life.

With my knees bent, I heaved shakily trying to catch my breath to no avail. By the grace of Kami himself, Genma and I had managed to defeat Mitokado-sensei's shadow clone and by grace, I seriously mean luck. One lucky fire jutsu by Genma caused the clone to disperse in a puff of smoke right before he took off my head.

My palms were sweaty, I had a few broken ribs and my ankle was definitely twisted since I could barely put my full weight on it. They were battle scars, even if it was a small battle, and I willed myself to begrudgingly accept them.

What I wasn't willing to accept was the fact that I was singing the same old tune of Genma saving my ass. The brunette genin grinned beside me as he lifted my arm and tossed it over his shoulder with a senbon lazily propped out the corner of his mouth.

"What do you say to finishing this, best friend?"

My lips quirked into a small smirk, "Right, asshole."

"Hey!"

How Genma managed to help steady my limping form all the way to the middle of the training ground, I'll never know, but I didn't plan to ask. We had plenty to think about rather than a possibly fractured ankle. Our shinobi careers were on the line as I stared at Mitokado-sensei who stood stood at the center of the field with Gai and his arms crossed over his chest.

"I thought you two had decided on no frontal assaults?" The jōnin taunted as his right hand gripped Gai's shoulder causing the boy to flinch under the pressure.

"I'm confident that we can take you down, that's all," the senbon chewer grinned as he removed my arm from his shoulder.

My indigo hues met with Gai who no doubt had begun to grow bored standing around waiting for us to make our moves for hours killing the time. Staring up at the sky, I let out a soft sigh at the sun that was beginning to near the center.

We had minutes, if not seconds, left and we needed to make a move. My gaze drifted to Genma who stared intently at Gai and gave a nod so subtle that I would have missed it if I blinked. They were communicating non-verbally and I was left out of the loop. _Great._

Genma's hands slowly drifted down to his weapon pack for a kunai and I mimicked the movement gripping ahold of the handle of my own tightly. In the blink of an eye, Gai reached for the jōnin's weapon as a distraction as we darted forward each throwing a projectile.

"Katon: Karyūdan!" Tiny flame bullets erupted from Genma's mouth as Haru easily dodged them all and sent Gai flying with a strong roundhouse kick.

I pulled another kunai from my pack and hit the jōnin head on only to be blocked by his sickle.

"So you think you can dance, _little girl_?"

My nostrils flared as pushed off him and jumped forward swinging my leg only for him to grab ahold of it and swing me around sending me crashing into Genma with a loud thud. I didn't wait around for Genma to make some smart remark as I bounced to my feet painfully landing on my weak ankle. Swallowing my pain, I pulled three shuriken and flung them all as I dashed forward damaging my ankle more cocking back my fist.

_I'm not a little girl!_

In fact, I was far from it. I may have been in a seven year old's body but I was mentally thirty one. I aimed for his jaw in hopes of wiping that smug smirk from his face only to be thoroughly disappointed as the back of his hand connected with my cheek sending me careening to the ground again in a cloud of dust.

My world was spinning as the sound of weapons clanking against each other echoed throughout my ears. If this was how we were supposed to pass the genin exam, I was screwed. I knew that there was no way for me to possibly pass but what about Genma and Gai? They were both supposed to become jōnin and eventually go on to do great things. Had I unravelled that for them? Was this the consequence of me being born into this world? Genma and Gai forced to be eternal genin because their female teammate couldn't make the cut?

The sound of two bodies hitting the ground beside me shook me from my depressing thoughts as I opened my eyes to find both boys bruised and beaten beside me with Mitokado Haru standing before us.

"Firstly, let me just say that all three of you piss me off," his face was twisted into a scowl as he set his hands in his pockets and I took the time to notice that he didn't have a single scratch on his body. He didn't even break a sweat and beat us all senseless. "I dumb down a shadow clone to genin level and you two knuckleheads," he pointed at myself and Genma, "Go and get ahead of yourself thinking you can take on me."

The older man let out a chuckle that sent a chill up my spine and made me shiver. "If you had your heads out of your asses and not in the clouds," his glare dropped to me once more, "You would have seen through the trap. Hell, even a fresh Academy student would have seen through it."

The clinking of a chain through my ears as he set his weapon at his side. "Secondly," he began holding up two fingers, "Your teamwork is sloppy and that's putting it mildly. Gai and Shiranui work together fine but you two forget that you have a third teammate and Hatake, you need have to reign in that fly solo attitude. Taking a jōnin on in the training fields will earn you broken bones but do it in the war and I'll be inscribing your name on the memorial stone."

The older man rubbed his temples feeling stressed enough to need a drink about what he had just been forced into with the split decision he decided to make and sighed. "I had written you all off, you know." His lips formed a thin line as he stared into all of our souls with dark eyes, "Frankly, you all fucking suck. If you live six years after being out there, I owe you all a drink."

"So di—"

"Ah ah. I'm not finished." Flicking his wrist, he motioned for us to get up. Gai immediately popped up and held out a hand to the two of us with his usual bold grin. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he huffed, "I'm going to need a new liver after the amount of sake I'm going to drink tonight but I'm passing the three of you."

I was officially floored. "What? You just wiped the floor with us," I bellowed, "LITERALLY."

"If you're _that_ interested in going back to Academy, you only have to ask Hatake," Haru cooed cheerfully and I began to remember why I thought he was creepy. Just like that, he went from being menacing to cheery and it was terrifying.

"Let's just say that you've changed my mind," he shrugged. "And let's be honest. If I send you lot back, no matter how dysfunctional and the fact that you'll all be dead in a few years, they'd only send me another group of brats." He waved his hand dismissively, "A man can only tolerate so much disappointment when it comes to the next generation."

"So that's it," I huffed, "You're only passing us because you're too lazy to wait around for the next Academy graduation?"

"Pretty much."

My gaze drifted to Genma and Gai who only shrugged and gave a thumbs up. If it was a win for them, it was a win for me and who was I to argue.

"Whatever."

_**/x/**_

"Papa!"

My voice carried through the hallway of the dark home which left me feeling uneasy. Usually around this time Sakumo was cooking and even if he wasn't, the lights were always on. I tightened my grip on the handle of the door as I tucked a strand of my silver hair behind my ears, a frown evident on my features. Sliding off my sandals, I set them to the side closing the door only to be startled by the foot that jammed its way into the crack.

"That's my foot, Emiko."

"Sorry Kakashi." I eased open the door and shut it after the silver haired boy glided in. "I don't think Otō-san is home. He didn't answer me and the lights are out."

Kakashi's black eyes narrowed into slits as I made a step forward only for him to throw out his arm to block me. "Get behind me." The chūnin pulled a kunai from his pouch and slowly began to inch forward on his tip toes and motioned for me to follow. The only noise that could be heard throughout the house was the wind blowing from the window in the living room and then the smell hit us.

"Blood."

This wasn't happening. I reached out and grabbed ahold of Kakashi's vacant hand as we turned the corner into the living room to see the one thing I had hoped I wouldn't see. I had lost track of time and become comfortable with the life that I was living that I forgot the first turning point in Kakashi's life. How could I forget about this? How could I have been so stupid.

I let out a heart wrenching scream as my eyes took in Sakumo's hunched over form that laid motionless on the ground. If I had been paying attention, I would have felt Kakashi's hand squeeze mine as he stared at our deceased father but I couldn't. The warm tears streamed down my face as my chest tightened. I could barely breath. I was frozen. To say that Sakumo wasn't my real father would have been spitting on his memory. I may not have been intended for this world but he was just as much my father as he was Kakashi's and now he was gone.

My legs gave way beneath my weight as I dropped to the ground with a thud struggling to overcome my panic attack. My breaths were shallow and the harder I tried to regulate my breathing, the tighter it began to feel. I was woozy staring at the blood that was beginning to pool around Sakumo's form and I decided to give in.

This time I let the darkness win as my body slumped forward and I fell out of consciousness.

* * *

**Author's note - **Words cannot describe how sorry I am that I didn't update when I was supposed to. I've kind of been sitting on a half written chapter for the last week or so because I've been so busy at work. Let me start off by saying that I messed up. I miscalculated when Sakumo died so I had to fix a few things the timeline may get a little wonky from here. Just warning you all.

I'd like to thank everyone who has Favorited and added the story to alerts. Those always make me happy and giddy. I'd like to thank shadow-binder, saku hyuuga, Guest, and A. Himawari for the reviews. I really appreciate those! Also, if you're looking for a good NaruOC story, check out A. Himawari profile. It's addicting, no joke.

Lastly, I'm sorry if it seems like I'm trying to rush through the chapters. I'm trying to push things toward when Emiko is a teenager/young adult because that's where I mostly want the story set. So if you see any spelling errors or anything, let me know so I can fix them. I tend to get a little drabbly and run on, y'know?

Once again, thanks for reading and I hope to see you come back for the next chapter!


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